Brassroots District Releases New Single

In a city where the lights never dim and the groove never stops, Brassroots District offers a movement, a feeling, a full-blown state of mind. Born six years after the Summer of Love and about 400 miles south of Haight-Ashbury, this nine-piece funk collective has become the beating heart of a city in flux, a place where freaks, lovers, dreamers and suits can all sweat it out together under the same disco ball.

The District’s story started, as all the best ones do, by accident. Just a couple of years ago in mid 72, on the streets of New Orleans, vocalist Ursa Major met a then-unknown crooner named Copper Jones. She invited him to sit in with her group, Ursa Major and the Constellations, at Preservation Hall. One van breakdown and a month of desert soul-searching later, Brassroots District was born under the stars of Joshua Tree. Since then, they’ve been tearing up LA’s underground funk circuit from Crenshaw to the Strip, preaching rhythm, unity and liberation.

Their shows, or rather, their experiences, aren’t your typical gigs; held in unmarked warehouses and half-legal venues, they’re gatherings of the faithful. Inside the “groovehaus,” as fans call it, strangers shed their differences and find communion in sweat, smoke, and sound. Think of it as church, if church served whiskey and broke into a 15-minute jam halfway through the sermon. And now, after a year of headline-making mayhem, the District is back with a brand-new single, a debut album and a run of residency shows that will set Koreatown ablaze.

Their latest offering, “Aim High,” is a righteous funk manifesto, a dance floor sermon for anyone tired of being told to stay in their lane. Released via For The People Records, the new label founded by Ursa’s brother, Gil Williams, the track explodes with brassy horns, big bass and the infectious call-and-response chemistry of Ursa Major and Copper Jones, offering a spectacular funk music moment that’s impossible not to love. “Take a risk. Bet on yourself. Leave your cares behind,” Ursa urges and really, how can you argue with that?

Just last summer, they turned down a lucrative deal from Epic Records, on stage. The label wanted Ursa out; Copper tore up the contract mid-set in front of a packed crowd at the Fabulous Orbit Arena, sparking what LA Weekly famously dubbed “The Funky Flameout.” The message was loud and clear, this band plays by their own rules. The upcoming record, Brassroots District, drops January 29th, packed with soulful anthems like “Together,” currently climbing the KTNQ and KHJ charts.

It’s music for the people, by the people, a DIY family operation based in vision, values and volume. With their record release residency at Jewel’s Catch One running through February and March of 74, the band is ready to bring their revolution to the dance floor once again. Because when the world outside gets crazier, there’s only one cure, to get inside the groovehaus and let the District take you higher.

Listen to Aim High below

More from Music

---

Editor Picks

---